The agreement, he added, was in no way linked to another deal Turkey signed with Royal Dutch Shell last week to prospect for oil and natural gas along the southern Turkish coast and inland in an area near Diyarbakir. The Famagusta project, he said, would be handled exclusively by TPAO, and that income from any hydrocarbons found would be split between TPAO and the north on a 55 to 45 per cent ratio respectively. 

The latest move in the ongoing battle over hydrocarbons in the area will be seen as the north and Turkey's way of opposing the Cyprus Republic and Israel's exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean, which they have both deemed illegal. 

“We have said that we see as unlawful activities in areas that have not been delineated by international agreement, regardless of who is doing it,” Yildiz said on Saturday. 

He also indicated that TPAO would continue prospecting in the eastern Mediterranean by saying, “This [drilling in Famagusta] does not mean we won't be responding to illegalities happening at sea”. 

No one from the north's ‘economy and energy ministry' was available yesterday to comment on the planned explorations. 

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Source: Cyprus Mail